The Milner team enjoyed an institute visit with a difference last week, as we welcomed a group of children for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Patient Day. The day — organised by Milner collaborator Dr Matthias Zilbauer and the Wellcome MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute — invited patients and families to discuss IBD as part of their commitment to give patients a voice in research. The day included lots of fun science-related activities for the children, including Play-Doh cells in petri dishes and pipette practice! We were delighted to take part, taking the group on a tour of our labs before they settled down to lunch.
Dr Zilbauer said, “It was great to see our patients interacting with each other whilst experiencing a real taste of science. It was also extremely rewarding to hear so many positive comments from their parents, e.g. that this a unique and indeed first opportunity for them to meet other parents of children suffering from IBD. They found the exchange of experience hugely valuable and in many ways reassuring/comforting.”
Read more about the Patient Engagement Day on the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute’s website, and learn more about how the Milner Institute collaborates with Dr Zilbauer’s Group here.
![Learning to pipette Learning to pipette](https://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/files/media/learning_to_pipette_2022.png)
Practicing pipetting at Patient Day. Photo credit: Seb Tucknott
![Research nurse Claire Glemas helping with the lab book, and a booklet insert on the right Research nurse Claire Glemas helping with the lab book, and a booklet insert on the right](https://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/files/media/booklet_patient_day_2022.png)
Research Nurse Claire Clemas and one of the young attendees of the Patient Day event, and an insert of the booklet. Photo credit: Seb Tucknott and Jen Rose